


Later, buddy

by AndromedaSmith



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Missing Scene, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25698808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndromedaSmith/pseuds/AndromedaSmith
Summary: Before Mon-El and Winn left for the future, there were a lot of conversations to be had. Here are two we didn’t see.
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Mon-El, Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor (mentioned), Kara Danvers/Mon-El (mentioned), Lena Luthor/James “Jimmy” Olsen (mentioned), Mon-El & James "Jimmy" Olsen
Comments: 14
Kudos: 19





	Later, buddy

**Author's Note:**

> Set during 3x23.

Tapping on her tablet, Alex turned a corner in one of the DEO’s endless basement corridors and nearly face-planted into a black-clad chest. Hands quickly gripped Alex’s biceps to stop her. She looked up into a bearded face.

“Mon-El!” she yelped.

“Sorry, Alex, didn’t mean to startle you,” he replied. The levity she’d heard in his voice more often over the last few weeks was missing. She looked into his eyes and the light there was dimmer, too.

“I thought you’d left already.”

“My access card still works,” he responded. “Just clearing out a few things.” Mon-El indicated the duffle bag on the floor beside him. He must have dropped it when he’d reached out to steady her. 

Alex started walking again. Mon-El picked up the bag and fell into step beside her.

“I’m glad I ran into you. I didn’t really get a chance to say goodbye when you left before. Or to say thanks for coming back to fight Reign.”

“Of course. Happy to help.” His voice was quiet.

“And the Legion… that’s pretty impressive. Look at you, you’ve grown into quite the leader.”

“Look who’s talking, deputy director Danvers.” 

Alex thought for a moment. “Hey, wait ... are you older than me now?”

“Could be. Time travel is weird that way,” he reflected. “Although, I think technically I was older than you when I first got here, what with the travel time and then being stuck in the Well of Souls…” he appeared to realize he was starting to ramble. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’s what you make of the time.”

Mon-El scratched his jaw. Alex nodded at a couple of agents walking the other way, toward the training room.

“Speaking of time travellers, I’m glad you’re taking on Brainy at the DEO. He’ll be a big help. He will probably also drive you nuts. Just remember that although he looks human, he isn’t. He’s a Coluan, he’s not trying to be a jerk.”

“I’ll manage. When you got here, I thought _you_ were a jerk.” She elbowed Mon-El gently and managed to elicit a hint of a smile.

“That’s cause you’re a good judge of character and I used to be one,” he replied.

“Well, the future did you some good.”

“That started here. Your sister did me a lot of good,” he corrected. “You all did.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw the fingers of his right hand twitching, fidgeting. The Legion ring was missing. 

They turned a corner into the deserted hallway where his temporary quarters were. “What happened to your ring?” she asked.

“Left it with Kara,” he replied quietly. “In case she ever needs me.” Alex could hear the roughness in his voice. Her heart ached at the thought that her sister was losing this good man, for the second time. And he was losing her, going back to a marriage that didn’t seem particularly happy. They both deserved better.

She stopped walking and stood in front of him.

“Mon-El, I know that Kara’s supposed to be the hopeful one; this time I think it’s on me. You’ve both been through a lot, but you’ve got long lives yet to come. I don’t think your story is over. Don’t give up on you and Kara.”

His jaw clenched and a few tears welled in his eyes.

“Sorry.” She reached out and gently patted his shoulder.

“It’s okay.” He exhaled. “Thanks, Alex.” With his free hand, he pulled her into a hug. She could feel him holding back, measuring his strength the same way Kara did so as not to hurt her.

“Stay well, Alex,” he said softly. He released her.

“Go well, Mon-El.”

Alex gave his shoulder a final squeeze and walked away.

* * *

After an increasingly frustrating fifteen minutes spent searching, James finally found Mon-El in the DEO basement. The Daxamite was absently zipping up a duffle bag, staring at the dark grey wall. His black clothes matched what seemed to be a somber mood far better than did the caped red-and-blue in which James had last seen him.

“Mon-El, hi. Alex said you were here somewhere. Glad I found you. I wanted to say thanks in advance for keeping Winn out of trouble.”

Mon-El chuckled. “That guy has a habit of getting into trouble. But I’ll try.”

James entered the tiny cubicle and learned back against the wire-mesh ‘wall’.

“Going with you to the future—it’s the right thing for him. He’s going to do amazing things.”

“Yeah. I know you guys are going to miss him. And you, especially, with Guardian. I heard you were thinking about unmasking, dropping the secret identity.”

Now it was James’ turn to be somber.

“Yeah. It’s a big step but I think it might be what’s needed.”

“That’s how we do it in the Legion. No secret identities, we just live our lives.”

“What’s it like?”

“Well, things moved pretty fast when I was here before. I never really lived with the two identities. But in the Legion, I can tell you it can be pretty personal. When I screw up —and I’ve screwed up plenty — I have to own it. There’s no shifting the responsibility to some alter-ego. Everyone knows Valor is me.”

“What I do... it _is_ personal. So I think it’ll work out,” James replied.

“Yeah. You know what you’re doing and why. It’ll work out.” Mon-El nodded.

Mon-El stopped fiddling with the bag and sat on the cubicle’s tiny cot. He looked down at his hands. James looked down at him.

“So, I was surprised when Winn told me you were going back.”

“What do you mean?”

“C’mon, man. Anybody with eyes has seen you and Kara look at each other these last few weeks.”

Mon-El didn’t say anything, just ran a hand across his face. The hand twitched toward his collar and James could see Mon-El consciously pull it away.

James continued, “And I saw you and Imra on the balcony earlier. That didn’t exactly look like a romantic reunion.”

“Yeah. That’s over,” Mon-El breathed out. “Don’t tell Kara, okay? This is hard enough on her.”

“Hey, not my story to tell. For what it’s worth...I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. I mean it.”

There was a minute of silence. Mon-El took a deep breath.

“Listen, I know Kara doesn’t need looking after. But I can still say thanks in advance for watching out for her.”

“You’re right, she doesn’t need protecting. But sometimes she needs to be reminded to look after herself. We’ll keep doing that,” James agreed.

Mon-El’s brow furrowed. “So what are you gonna do about Kara and Lena and Supergirl? That’s getting complicated and somebody’s gonna get hurt. And you’re in the middle.”

James sighed. “I don’t know. There’s no easy answers. They’re both pretty stubborn.”

“You’re telling me. Usually in this kind of situation I ask myself ‘what would Kara do?’ That’s not so helpful here. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Hey, you came from the future—don’t you know what’ll happen?”

“No. By defeating Pestilence we changed the future. And I haven’t caught up on whatever history Brainy and Imra brought back. So you’ll just have to wing it.”

James’ phone buzzed and both men started a little. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at it. “It’s about time for Winn’s thing. You gonna come and say goodbye?”

“No. I think I’ve had enough goodbyes already.” Mon-El’s voice dropped. He picked up the bag and turned to leave, stopped by James’ arm across the doorway of the cubicle.

“Hey. You know this but I think maybe you might need to hear it. The big, obvious life-on-the-line stuff—that’s not all of what being a hero is. Sometimes it’s the sacrifices that almost no one else sees. You leaving, that’s a hard call, and I wanted to let you know that somebody saw that.”

“Thanks.”

James gripped Mon-El’s hand. “Any time. You know she wants you to be happy. So keep working on it.”

“You too. Stay well, Guardian.”

“ _Beyalat Daxam_ , Valor.”


End file.
